Tuffy is grounded for his behaviour. Can you write a new story about a pet who is grounded for their bad behaviour? The comical aspect of this book makes it an extremely useful tool in aiding the development of both children’s reading and writing skills: Writing outcomes:A diary entry, theories, instructions, a blurb for the sequel, a letter from the vet to Ellie’s family, a pamphlet for a new cat owner, a letter from Ellie to her grandpa This is a humorous book about a cat that kills yet cannot understand why his family are upset with this. He is a ‘cheeky’ kind of character always trying to justify his actions, which the children would like. The illustrations are funny which would be useful in class to keep children engaged. It also has as great sense of sarcasm about it, again useful when introducing the notion of sarcasm as it gives great examples.

Guided Reading: Diary of a Killer Cat | Teaching Resources Guided Reading: Diary of a Killer Cat | Teaching Resources

But I showed them. I was Tuffy the Acting Cat, superstar. How was I supposed to know things would get so . . . messy? Anne has written more than sixty books for children and young people. Amongst numerous other awards, she is twice winner of both the Carnegie Medal, Britain's most prestigious children's book award, and the Whitbread Award. Twice chosen as Children's Author of the Year in the British Book Awards, Anne Fine was also the first novelist to be honoured as Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Anne became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages. Write a diary entry from the point of view of your own (or a friend’s) pet. How does it feel about living with the family? What does it like? What does it dislike? It was my birthday. How was I supposed to know it wouldn't be the only party around town on that dark and dreary Halloween night?

Another incredible resource from this author. I am so grateful to you for the time taken to prepare these and for the fact of you sharing it freely. So much appreciated. Thank you. This book is told from the point of view of Tuffy, a pet cat who drags a dead bird into the house. His owner, a young girl called Ellie is horrified but Tuffy cannot see a problem, "So hang me. I killed the bird. For pity's sake, I'm a cat" says Tuffy. He then brings a dead mouse into the house. Before long, Tuffy brings his next victim, the next door neighbor’s rabbit. And this time Tuffy is in deep trouble, Ellie’s parents are very cross. The punctuation, repetition and use of various lengths of sentences enable the book to be an easy yet interesting read, and therefore can be used to help children develop their writing skills. Lessons involving an examination of the writing can be followed up with a lesson in which the children are asked to write an account from the point of view of their own pet involving repetition, exclamation marks, speech marks and the use of both long and short sentences.

The Killer Cat Series by Anne Fine - Goodreads The Killer Cat Series by Anne Fine - Goodreads

Though readers often find themselves inadvertently laughing aloud as they read Anne Fine's novels, as she herself admits, "a lot of my work, even for fairly young readers, raises serious social issues. Growing up is a long and confusing business. I try to show that the battle through the chaos is worthwhile and can, at times, be seen as very funny." In 1994, this unique combination of humour and realism inspired the hit movie MRS. DOUBTFIRE, based on Anne's novel MADAME DOUBTFIRE and starring the late comedic genius Robin Williams. Poor Ellie is horrified when Tuffy drags a dead bird into the house. Then a mouse. But Tuffy can't understand what all the fuss is about. There are a number of books in the ‘Killer Cat’ series. Can you write a new story involving the character? Because let's face the facts here, Tuffy is able to be such an unrelenting hunter and "killer cat" because Ellie and her family in The Diary of a Killer Cat are shown by Anne Fine as obviously having no qualms whatsoever regarding letting their pet freely and continuously roam outside and with there even being a designated cat door so that Tuffy can freely enter and exit at will. And well, for me personally (and as someone who is increasingly aware of the fact that domestic cats are an invasive species and can be a major threat to and for birds), permitting pet felines to be outside cats or even both outside and inside cats is (at least for me) totally unacceptable and also environmentally problematic behaviour and that at the very least, there should be in The Diary of a Killer Cat more attempts being made to keep Tuffy inside, with me also thinking that Anne Fine as an author and as a person probably seems to think that outside cats are acceptable (with which I beg to differ and that this kind of even makes me, makes my adult self see a bit proverbially red regarding The Diary of a Killer Cat, and that my five star rating for my inner child is lowered to only three stars when my adult reading self thinks about Tuffy being continuously outside in The Diary of a Killer Cat and this all being pretty much considered tolerably unproblematic by Anne Fine).

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Anne Fine was born and educated in the Midlands and now lives in County Durham. She has written numerous highly acclaimed and prize-winning books for children and adults.